Five Hours Later
The back alley was narrow and dim, squeezed between two aging buildings that blocked most of the sunlight.
A huge man stood near the wall. He was over two meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick with muscle, and he smoked a cigar with his arms crossed loosely. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were sharp. He was guarding something behind the alley.
Footsteps approached.
A young figure stepped into view in dark clothes and a black mask that covered everything but his eyes. He stopped a few paces away, and the big man looked him up and down.
"Do you know the password?"
The masked figure answered without hesitation. "Blue is the best color."
For a second the big man just stared. Then he laughed and took the cigar from his mouth. "Yeah. I know it's not the best password. It sounds too funny."
He stepped aside and nodded toward a plain gray metal door set into the wall. "You can enter."
The masked figure nodded once and moved forward. He placed a hand against the door and pressed a specific spot, and it swung silently inward. He stepped through, and the door closed behind him.
The young man was Conrad.
It had taken him five hours to find this place. He hadn't rushed. He had walked the city, listened closely, and asked the right questions in the wrong places. At first the answers were vague.
Try the lower blocks.
Somewhere near the old warehouses.
You'll know when you're close.
Eventually one name kept surfacing, though it belonged to a role more than a person. The Black Merchant of the Blueberry. Someone who bought what others couldn't sell, who never asked where an item came from, only how rare it was and how fast it could be moved. Blueberry City wasn't large, but it sat on several trade routes, and goods passed through it quietly. That made it useful.
Inside, the corridor was narrow and clean. Conrad walked forward without a sound, keeping Zetsu active. After a short walk the corridor opened into a wide underground room where several people stood, none of whom looked at him directly.
At the far end, a woman stood behind a reinforced counter. She was tall and neatly dressed, with her hair pulled back.
A Blueberry Insignia at her waist. She knows the merchant.
Conrad approached. She spoke first.
"You're new."
"Yes."
"First rule. No names, no stories, no explanations." She paused. "Also, no use of supernatural powers. If you know what I mean."
Conrad took a breath. He knew exactly what she meant by "supernatural powers." A rule like that meant these people had dealt with Nen users, or at least with people who could cause trouble, and that they had the means to end the problem at its source.
"That works for me."
She nodded slightly. "What are you selling?"
Conrad reached slowly into his coat and set a small wrapped container on the counter. He didn't open it yet. "I want to know first whether you can buy it."
"Open it."
He unwrapped the container just enough to show what was inside. The Red Diamond caught the light at once. Even partly covered, its color was unmistakable.
Her eyes narrowed with focus, and there was no trace of shock in them. She closed the container gently.
"You're a brave man," she said. "I can tell you that."
"Not something I hear every day," Conrad replied. "Thank you."
She studied him for a moment. "Speed or profit?"
"Speed."
Another nod. "Good answer."
She tapped a device behind the counter, and numbers appeared briefly and vanished.
"I won't ask where you got it," she said. "And I won't move it through this city. That would be stupid."
"Agreed."
"I can transfer it out quietly, but not for full value."
Conrad had expected that. "How much?"
"One hundred and fifty million Jenny. Clean transfer, no delay."
He considered it for less than a second. "That's fine."
The woman raised an eyebrow slightly. "You didn't negotiate."
"I don't need to," Conrad said. "I need to leave."
That seemed to satisfy her. She slid a device across the counter. "Account."
Conrad pressed his card against it, and it beeped softly. A moment later his phone vibrated.
Balance updated. 150,100,000 Jenny.
The woman sealed the container fully and took it away, already treating it as no longer Conrad's problem.
"From this point on," she said, "you were never here."
"Understood."
He turned and walked back the way he had come. The gray door opened, and the alley greeted him again. The big man was still there, finishing his cigar. Conrad walked past without stopping.
No one followed him.